Legend of Zelda: The Castle of Candles
by Soshite
Summary: After ST. Everyone dreams, everyone has nightmares. However, when those dreams and nightmares come into New Hyrule, things become dangerous. An old fairy tale becomes a reality when the gates between two worlds are thrown wide open.
1. Prologue

**Title: **TheLegend of Zelda: The Castle of Candles

**Author: **Soshite

**Summary: **After ST. Everyone dreams, everyone has nightmares. However, when those dreams and nightmares come into New Hyrule, things become dangerous. An old fairy tale becomes a reality when the gates between the Imaginary World and the Waking World are thrown wide open.

**Rated: **T

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of the Legend of Zelda series. If I did, certain people would still be alive. And possibly playable outside of Brawl. Because he is awesome. Oh, and the Gerudo would get more than a passing mention or wouldn't be suddenly thrown out of canon.

**PROLOGUE**

The Imaginary World

_Once upon a time, there existed two worlds. One was the waking world, where people lived their lives during the hours where the light of the sun touched the earth. The other was the world of dreams, a land where those with strong wills thrived and the spirits of old lived. The world of dreams was called the Imaginary World and was a place where those of the past and present may meet._

_The Imaginary World was ruled by a benevolent lord, whose will was great as his kingdom was mighty. It was his power that kept the darkness that infested his world at bay. The darkness that laid hidden within the Imaginary were the Nightmares, monsters made flesh by the fears of the people of the waking world. Once they had terrorized both worlds, but were sealed away within the Imaginary World and held under lock and key by its lord._

_But that is another story._

_This story is long after the Nightmares had been laid to rest; this story is a tragic love story between the Lord of the Castle of Candles and the Lady of Light._

_The Castle of Candles, they say, is a grand old palace where the lives of people were kept, each represented by a single candle. Some candles were tall and new; others old, short and ready to flicker out of existence. It was the Lord's duty to keep watch over these precious lives, extinquishing them and lighting new ones as time went on in the waking world. To help him in his duties, he made the Dream Mirrors; they would allow him to keep an eye on the people of the waking world and to travel back and forth between them at will._

_One day, as he was viewing the waking world, he spotted a young maiden of unparallelled beauty. The Lord fell deeply in love with her, but knew it could never be. They lived in two different worlds and even if she came to the Imaginary World, their love could only be temporary, for he could never leave the Castle of Candles and thus, never be able to find her._

_However, despite everything, he sent her one of his Dream Mirrors, in the hopes that she would come to him on her own._

_Eventually, the maiden came to the Imaginary World and fell in love with the Lord as well and brought light to the world steeped in night._

_Unfortunately, there was mischief afoot._

_In the Haunted Wasteland, a section of the Imaginary World where the Nightmares had been sealed, someone else had already fallen deeply in love with the maiden long before the Lord had laid eyes on her. He was the King of Winter, the spirit of the colder months of the year and ruler of the cold, icy region of the Imaginary World. In the form of a spirit he had watched and played with the young maiden in the waking world when winter had come; protected her and loved her like no other._

_But her heart had never been his to have._

_In his jealousy, he cursed the Imaginary World, releasing the Nightmares upon it once again. They ramapaged upon the Imaginary World, devouring all light that they came across, spreading fear and terror throughout the once peaceful land. The King of Winter used the powers of the Nightmares to separate the lovers, stealing the Lady of Light's candle and hiding it in a place where the Lord cannot reach..._

"...And that's it, hahaha," Niko said, with a small chortle. His audience stared at him, their mouths agape at the lack of a proper ending, or the fact that Niko had managed to stopped himself from continuing on-and-on as he was wont to do. Either way, the way the old seafarer had ended his new tale was quite jarring and even Link managed to stay awake long enough to wonder what was supposed to happen next.

The person next to him asked the question that was on both of their minds.

"Is that it?" the girl asked, frowning a bit as she stared at the last picture on stand. It depicted the King of Winter in possession of a candle and the Lady of Light being frozen in a large crystal. She frowned a little, considering it. "You'd think there'd be more. I want to know what happens next. Does the Lord of the Castle of Candles get his Lady back? Or does the King of Winter win in the end? I want to know!" Niko smiled at Link's companion, chuckling.

"Hohoho...well, I wouldn't want to spoil the ending just yet," the old man said with a happy-go-lucky air. "After all, I haven't exactly finished doing all the pictures yet and there's no point in telling a good story without pictures!" Niko began to put the small theatre screen away, as Link and his friend got up from their seats on the carpet. "But never mind that you two, you should be headed out to the Spring Festival in the village. It only comes once a year, after all. And it's the best time for lovers to come together." The old man winked, laughing at the two friends as they blushed at the same time. "There's an old spring tradition you know; stare deeply into the mirror and make a wish about the future...if you wish hard enough, they say your future will be revealed before the festival's end."

Niko sighed wistfully. "Ah, what it is to be young again...Miss had been so lucky to have her wish come true...hohoho..."

As Niko was chuckling to himself as he muttered of days gone by, Link brought his friend back out into Aboda Village, where the festivities were just beginning. Colorful banners streamed from one roof to the next, coiled around tall trees and flapping along in the ocean breeze. People were milling about, setting up stalls and little attractions for the once in a year event to celebate the new Spring. Every year the Spring Festival changed its location according to the royal family and this year, it was Aboda's turn.

And neither Link nor his companion were going to miss it.

"Oh, Link, it's so cute!" she said, clapping her hands together in anticipation and excitment. The girl's long blonde hair swayed a little in its ponytail as she turned to face her friend for over a little over a year. "I can't wait to see everything!" She looked so happy and carefree, the Hero of the Tracks had to grin at her enthusiasm.

"Well, it's still a bit early to have any real fun," he said, taking her hand in his. "How about we take a walk, Zelda?"

The girl gasped and flailed in shock, then ceremoniously whacked Link a few times, all the while telling him to keep quiet. No one really paid them much mind, except for the seagulls, who flew off angrily as the girl disturbed them with her spastic behaviour. Whipping her head from side to side, she glared heartilly at the engineer who started cowering a bit from her. Roughly, she pushed him into a bush before diving in with him.

"Are you _crazy_?" she hissed, still glaring daggers at her hero. "Don't call me Zelda out here! I thought we agreed on calling me _Tetra_?"

"S-sorry! I forgot!" The boy was being very honest; he really had forgotten on the plan they had decided on, but could she really blame him? He was so used to calling her Zelda and only that for the last year or so and to have to call her by any other name felt odd to him. The fact that it was only for this one day made things even harder for the young teen.

Earlier that day, as Link was on his way to deliver some fish to the royal cook, he had been accosted by a Princess Zelda dressed up like a pirate of all things, asking him to sneak her out of the palace, yet again. It became something of a habit for the two of them in the days that follow Malladus' defeat; sneaking past guards and teachers alike just so the royal could get out into the real world for a few hours at a time. Most of the time it was only so she could visit with him in the Castle Town while he was off-duty, but sometimes the girl wanted to venture far for one reason or another. And he couldn't blame her. Zelda had spent most of her young life shut up inside of a castle, until events led to her travel her kingdom in the form of a spirit. It wasn't any surprise that she wanted more worldly experience under her belt—to know her people and country better.

He could never say no to her—when could he ever—and had carefully led the princess out of the castle and straight into his train, bringing her to Aboda Village where the Spring Festival was being held that year. Last year it had been in the Castle Town and Zelda had only been able to watch from afar as the townspeople celebrated the new year and prayed for bounty and luck as the months went on. This year, she vowed not to miss it.

The princess had planned everything from her getaway, to keeping the new chancellor away by saying she was sick and was not to be disturbed and would not be taking meals, to her disguise (which was a poor one in Link's opinion, but no one had suspected thus far) and alias while she was outside of the castle, where she should have been attending her duties. Alas, princesses needed to have fun, too, and this princess proved to be a lot more mischievous than Link had originally anticipated.

But he wouldn't trade her for the world.

_SLAP!_

"Ow!"

"Link, you're not listening to me!" Zelda complained, glaring daggers yet again. "And wipe that look off your face!" She added, having noted the dreamy look that crossed her friend's visage; it was both embarassing looking and goofy as far as she was concerned and probably none too innocent, she deduced. Link pouted and rubbed his aching cheek.

_Although I wouldn't trade her for the world, I certainly wouldn't mind trading her right arm for something else...Man, she hits deceptively hard!_ Link thought glumly, mentally sighing at Zelda's abusive nature. "Sorry, sorry. I'll be more careful next time, Tetra."

Satisfied that she had gotten her point across, she smiled with a nod of her head. Holding her hand out, she helped Link onto his feet, even going as far as to help him dust off his engineer's uniform (he had originally arrived in the recruit's uniform, but changed when they got to his and Niko's house). Taking the boy's hand again, she led him back out into the open.

"So, Link, where shall we walk?"

Laughing nervously at her sudden mood swing—which he should have gotten used to by now, considering how long their friendship had lasted—the boy led them towards the shoreline at the edge of the village. The sun was still high in the sky, bright and cheerful; the sky itself was cloudless with the occasional seagull flying above the two of them. All the attractions of the festival were being held in the village proper, so everyone was there and not on the beach where Link and Zelda walked together, hand-in-hand.

She spoke up first.

"It's been over a year, hasn't it? Since Anjean and the Lokomo have left us," the blonde girl stated wistfully. "Since we defeated Malladus together..."

Link nodded with a soft grunt. "Yeah...it only feels like yesterday we were going through the Tower of Spirits together." He laughed a little. "I kind of miss it...a bit."

The princess tilted her head to the side, curious. "Miss what? Nearly getting killed every time we ran into a Phantom?" The engineer shook his head grinning.

"Nah. I actually miss being around you all the time, actually," he said, not quite realizing what he had just admitted, until it was too late. When it finally registered, the teen blushed pink and so did Zelda, a hand over her mouth in surprise. "Um...that is to say...you were pretty useful as a ghost, you know! You could possess things and stuff," he quickly added, rather lamely. He looked over at the princess-in-disguise, scratching the back of his head nervously.

The princess stared at him a few moments, her face frozen in a blank expression. And then disappointment filled her eyes, which confused Link a bit, before it disappeared. The girl scoffed lightly, pulling away from him. Crossing her arms, she looked out to the vast sea.

"Well, someone had to keep a cool head! You would have been in a lot of trouble if it weren't for me," she stated haughtily. There was the princess he knew; it didn't suit her to be sad and the point of their outing today was so she could have as much fun as possible. Link wanted her to always be smiling, a thought which kind of scared him a bit, but it was normal for friends to want each other to be happy, right?

"Honestly Link, you always had your head up in the clouds when you should have been concentrating on not being squashed by rolling boulders or falling into trap doors and—Link you're not listening again!"

_SLAP!_

"Ow!" Link cried, seeing stars from the force of the princess' strong slap. He actually went flying a little, falling with a thud onto the sand. From where he laid in a heap on the ground, he could see Zelda stomping off, her long hair swishing back and forth in the ponytail she had put it in. Groaning, the teen sat himself up painfully. Well, looked like he got her mad again. Served him right for walking down memory lane by himself again.

Link sighed. He had to make it up to her somehow.

Placing on hand to support himself as he sat there in the sandy shores of Aboda, contemplating ways to appease the anger of his princess, the boy's gloved hand came into contact with something hard in the sand. Curious as to what kind of rubbish or treasure he had inadvertedly found, Link brushed aside the sand to see a rusted handle. Frowning, he grabbed the handle and gave a sharp tug to unearth the item.

"Waaah!" came the boy's cry as he was sent tumbling into the sand again. He had pulled too hard and ended up falling backwards. And now, in his hands, was a dirty old hand mirror. He blinked. Who in the world could have left this on the beach? And for how long? The whole mirror seemed rusted over and the reflective sheen of the mirror's surface was really grimy.

_Not a treasure then,_ he thought to himself as he gently rubbed at the mirror, to see if he could clean it. He managed a small spot where he could only see one of his eyes inside of it. Absently, his mind fell onto the old tradition of mirror wishing during the Spring Festival as he idly cleaned the mirror. All he had to do, he recalled, was look into the mirror and make a wish for the future and his future would be known. Almost immediately the engineer thought of a future with himself and Zelda in it, friends forever and smiled fondly to himself. Although she was a handful and got easily riled, he hoped the two of them will always share good times together.

_That's my wish_, he thought, holding the dirty mirror in one hand. _A happy future._

He stared a few moments into the mirror, a warm breeze caressing his face and ruffling his hair. His gaze did not waver, but nothing happened, as expected. It was, after all, a silly superstition, even if he had meant the wish with every iota of his being. There was no use in wishing, after all. If he wanted a happy future with Zelda, he would first have to go chase after her and apologize for being such a blockhead. It wasn't going to be easy, but that was how life worked.

_No point in chucking away this mirror, though. Maybe I can fix it up later..._Yes, that was a practical idea. And who knew, maybe the mirror was something to behold, under all that grime and rust. Maybe even give it to Zelda as a gift later on, after the festival was over and he was back in her good gaces once again.

A plan formulated, Link made to put the hand mirror away when it suddenly flashed a bright light into his eyes. The boy was blinded momentarily and he wondered if he had caught the sun in the lense somehow. Once his sight cleared of black and white dots, he focused on the hand mirror, surprised to see a girl within it, a frightened look on her face. She was banging on the inside of the mirror, screaming soundlessly at him, pleading with her eyes to release her. When trying to break through the mirror did not suffice, she simply stared helplessly, her hands pressed up against the glass. Then those eyes closed in despair and she slid down, as the mirror suddenly froze over, her image disappearing. Link hissed as the handle was cold enough to bite and he dropped the mirror, staring in shock at what he just witnessed.

Cradling his nearly frozen hand, he bent down to inspect the hand mirror and saw nothing, but himself in its depths. No girl, no ice—nothing at all to indicate anything odd or strange. Just what was going on?

All of a sudden, a voice cut through Link's musings.

"Link? Liiiink!" called Zelda, having returned from cooling off somewhere in the village. She was some ways away from where the teenager was and seemed to be concerned, if the look on her face was anything to go by. The princess' brows were furrowed together in worry and the strange phenomena the hero had just experienced was pushed to the back of his mind. He would investigate the mirror later. Right now, he had a princess to soothe.

Swiping the mirror from the ground, he stuffed it into a pouch on his belt and went to meet the princess, unaware of the events about to unfold.

[END PROLOGUE]


	2. The Story Begins

**Title: **TheLegend of Zelda: The Castle of Candles

**Author: **Soshite

**Summary: **After ST. Everyone dreams, everyone has nightmares. However, when those dreams and nightmares come into New Hyrule, things become dangerous. An old fairy tale becomes a reality when the gates between the Imaginary World and the Waking World are thrown wide open.

**Rated: **T

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of the Legend of Zelda series. If I did, certain people would still be alive. And possibly playable outside of Brawl. Because he is awesome. Oh, and the Gerudo would get more than a passing mention or wouldn't be suddenly thrown out of canon.

**CHAPTER 1**

The Story Begins

_Light..._

_Where did the light go...?_

_Why does all light flicker in and out of existence so?_

_Why is it so dark here...?_

_The candles stay, yet light has become faded..._

_Where did the light go...?_

_Where did the little light go...?_

-=-=-=-=-=SPIRIT TRACKS=-=-=-=-=-

Aboda had once been named Outset Village, in honor of the Hero who had founded New Hyrule alongside Queen Tetra. However, he had felt so queer about having the little seaside village named after his home that he had requested it be named to something else. The new settlers eagerly gave their suggestions to the new rulers, swarming them with every kind of name there was. Regal names and smart names; silly names and sombre names; and even names that rhymed with fruit. However, none of them seemed right and, perhaps, the new village by the shore would be doomed to be called Outset after all.

But then, one lone girl approached the Hero with a pretty little hand mirror, telling him that she had seen the new name of their village. Smiling, she told him it had come to her quite by accident, as she was wishing for the name of their home to be found swiftly to calm the townspeople as well as calm the Hero's unease. It was when she had dropped her mirror onto a stack of her father's books that she noticed something quite peculiar in the mirror's glass. The little hand mirror had fallen askew—at an angle--covering half of the word 'abode' on her father's book on architecture. The girl saw that some of the letters appeared the same, while others were inverted, creating a similar, yet new, word with the use of the looking glass. Upon reading it out loud, she thought it sounded pleasant to the ears and came to tell them of her discovery.

The name of their village was now derived from the word 'abode', which meant something similar to 'home' and since it was created on a spur of the moment event, it was new just like the kingdom of New Hyrule. And thus was born Aboda Village and its simple tradition of mirror-wishing. Whenever the new year came, it was traditional for people to look into a mirror and ask about their future. It was quite a popular mode of fortunetelling, especially with girls and women who were curious about their future husbands. Link had once tried to divine his fortune with a mirror when he was five and ended up dropping and breaking the mirror instead. Needless to say, he had been given a good scolding for it and for unleashing terrible luck on their family.

Needless to say, the Hero of the Tracks didn't have a family to speak of anymore. He preferred not to think about the circumstances of their loss, though.

What did cross the young blond's mind at the moment was how happy Zelda seemed right then. After she found him at the beach (looking worried, because he hadn't chased after her like he always did when she was mad at him), the girl told him that the festival had finally started, the opening ceremonies already done and over with. The two teens had returned to the village to find balloons floating into the air and confetti raining down on their heads. It reminded Link of their return to the castle last year and he couldn't help the grin that plastered itself on his face as he strolled the lined stalls with his best friend in hand.

The mirror he had found earlier sat forgotten in one of his belt pouches, as his mind became occupied with festival games such as Bombchu Bowling, Balloon Popping and a new game which involved a mechanical hand brought in by Linebeck III all the way from his Trading Post out east.

It was an imported game (imported from where exactly, Link wasn't overly sure), one that had a mechanical claw inside of a glass case filled with all sorts of wondrous prizes. It had treasures, potions and even rupee prizes inside, waiting for the taking. The concept was simple enough, put a rupee into the money slot, use the handle outside to maneuver around within a time limit to grab something and then it would drop it into a hole where the player could grab their hardwon item from. Of course, acquiring anything from this game was easier said than done. Link had lost twenty times trying to get the same prize--a stuffed Chuchu toy. Zelda had been eyeing it and he thought he could get it for her and had been in good spirits on the first few tries. After the tenth failure (and loss of several blue rupees), it was more of a matter of pride than anything else. He vowed he would get that Chuchu doll--even if it took him a million tries!

Zelda was getting worried that he was getting stressed out over nothing and even said so.

"It's alright, Link. You don't have to get it," the princess said as placatingly as possible. Although her friend was a lot more timid than she was, it didn't mean that he couldn't have his own moments of fierceness. It was how they had gotten through so many scrapes together in one piece. She admired his bravery and his determination, which spurred the princess into being more bold herself, however, when her friend became as bullheaded as this, it scared her a little. Boys and their pride.

"I'll get it, I'll get it," he promised, eyes straight ahead as he carefully controled the metal claw. Down, down, down it went, each elongated talon spreading wide before clamping downon the squishy toy. Both Hero and Princess held their breath as the claw rose with the plushie, moving torturously slow. Once it reached its zenith, it swayed a little, causing Zelda and Link to gasp. But it was alright. The prize was still within the claw's grasp. Link began to chant. "Come on, come on, come on!"

"Come on, come on, come on!" Zelda breathed alongside him. Her blue eyes followed the toy as it moved along slowly...

...The claw shifted.

And it opened wide!

The Chuchu doll tumbled, tumbled, tumbled...and missed its mark!

Link groaned in frustration as the the Chuchu doll had fallen half into the exit of the prize machine and stayed half outside of it, stuck for one reason or another. Sympathetically, Zelda patted the boy's back before leading him away from the game before he started foaming at the mouth.

"It's okay, Link...it's not as if I could keep it anyways," she said, trying to make Link feel better as she pulled him towards a food stall that sold candy.

"But...but...I could've gotten it...I could have...just one more try..."

"No, Link," Zelda said firmly, sticking an octorok shaped, strawberry lolipop into his mouth. "No more tries. Lets do something else! How about we get our fortunes told?" Glumly, the boy agreed and followed Zelda over to the tent the old fortuneteller from Papuchia Village had set-up for the festival. On the way there, though, the engineer accidentally bumped into a cloaked man carrying a very large and wide parcel in his arms. He heard the man curse slightly as he almost dropped his item.

Link apologized quickly as the stranger move the piece of tarp that had come loose from his item. The boy could have sworn he say it glint in the sunlight as the man muttered his own apologies before rushing off towards the area that had been roped off for a performance stage in the middle of the festival grounds.

The boy put that incident out of his mind and went straight to the fortune tent with Zelda.

Slipping into the tent, the two friends could sense the heavy smell of incense already burneing in the air, making the interior of the rather tackily decorated tent really stuffy. Sitting on a pillow in the middle of the tent was the fortuneteller, meditating. Or it looked like it anyways. Link always thought it was a funny way of taking a nap in the middle of the day when you didn't want anyone to know. Napping or not, the old woman snapped her eyes wide open when he and Zelda approached.

"Aaaah...welcome...welcome, young ones," the Wise One greeted, in a very mysterious voice. "I have been expecting you."

"Hello, Wise One," Zelda returned, smiling. "Would be so kind as to tell us our future?"

"Do you have any particular topic you want me to look into?" the Wise One inquired, while the two took a seat in front of the large crystal ball she used for divination. A fog swirled inside of the glass sphere, the ball occasionally glowing periodically from some unknown power. The old woman put her spindly hands over it and regarded the two teenagers seriously. "Speak carefully, for it shall affect your future."

Zelda looked at Link, wondering what they should ask about. Both of them knew for a fact that the Wise One was quite accurate firsthand and practically everyone their Papuchia Village swore by her.

"Well, doesn't matter either way for me, Tetra. You can pick anything you want," Link told the girl, as if the two of them were out shopping for curtains for their new bungalo or something else couples would do—which they weren't, because they weren't a couple. Because if the two of them were a couple, things would surely be different and he would be doing more than just holding her hands and what was it and couples going out together to pick out something as mundane as curtains. You'd think a girlfriend and boyfriend would have more to do than to just simply going out to find something they'd like to hang on the wall, to cover up the windows—

Link's mind went down like a derailed train (something he was quite familiar with) and he had to snap himself out of it before he went down that road. Honestly, he and Zelda were friends, although he had wondered if they could be more. Would be more, considering how close they had gotten because of the whole Malladus thing.

But seriously, now was not the time to be thinking about things like that.

Zelda put a finger to her chin, tapping it thoughtfully. "Hmm..." she hummed, thinking about what to ask. "Ah! I know. Tell me about my future love!"

Or maybe it was time to be seriously thinking about such things, because the last thing he wanted his friend to know about was that he might have some feelings for her. Probably. Maybe. He wasn't sure...

At the very least, he knew that Zelda was very precious to him.

"Very well, I shall peer into the ever-changing mists of the future and reveal to you...your fortune!" the Wise One stated, starting to wave her hands back and forth. Closing her eyes, the old woman began a strange chant in a gibberish tongue Link didn't understand. During the chant, the crystal ball began to shine fiercely in front of the two customers, the mist inside of it changing colors rapidly. Both Link and Zelda tried to make heads or tails of what they saw within the distorted glass, but could come up only with some rather creative interpretations. Later on, Zelda would admit to see two Stalfos dancing a tango together.

The old woman continued to spout out gibberish before her eyes flew open, the crystal ball giving one last technicolor flash of light, before settling. Her twiggy hands were spread wide in front of her, one palm in front of each teen's face. Hero and Princess sat there, waiting with bated breath for the divine message she would deliver unto them, eyes wide and ears peeled as to not miss a single word.

They waited.

And waited.

And they waited some more.

And by the time five minutes had passed, Link and Zelda were still waiting. The silence that had suddenly entered the little tent was as stiffling as the burning incense and Zelda had to venture a question as to what was going on.

"Umm...Aren't you going to tell us the fortune?"

The Wise One said nothing; she only stared off into the distance. The teens looked at each other uneasily and wodnered if the old diviner was having some kind of seizure when she slowly put her hands back down, then taking up a thoughtful pose. A craggly hand was rubbing at her pointed chin as she hummed pensively.

Zelda spoke up. "M'am?"

"Hmm...strange...it seems as if my third eyes has become...clouded," the Wise One stated airily. "Odd that. It's a rare thing for a seer such as I myself to not be able to peer into the future. I wonder what could be causing it..." The misty-blue eyes of the sage woman studied to two of them intently, muttering to herself every other second. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about her two guests and Link and Zelda obviously didn't feel any different. And then she spotted it poking out from one of Link's belt pouches.

"You, boy!" she said, pointing a withered old finger at Link's face.

He pointed at himself, uncertainly. "Me?" he asked, suddenly timid.

"Yes, you boy! What's that in your pocket?"

Fumbling, he unlatched the flap and pulled out the rusty old mirror he had found back at the beach. The strange little hand mirror that had shown him the girl trapped inside the glass. Zelda looked at it from beside her friend, wondering what it was, since it looked too grimy to be anything she owned. However, the single gleam of silver told her what it was.

"What's this now? A mirror with a strange energy?" she asked, as the item in question was passed to the Wise One. Inspecting the dirt and grime with the distaste only a woman in her advanced age could do, she pulled out a cloth from her pocket and wiped at the mirror vigorously. "Goodness, I've never seen such filth before...children these days do not know how to take care of their own belongings." After a good rubdown, the mirror was gleaming in what little light was inside the tent and looked dazzling to the eyes.

The mirror was made of silver, with a sort of swirling design around the glass; a simple line of precious metal was wrapped delicately around the handly and ending in one swirl. On the back of the mirror itself was a foreign crest neither Link nor Zelda had ever seen; a rose inside of a circle, one side of the rose depicting half a sun, while the other side possessed a crescent moon. And all around the edge of the crest were words written in old Hylian, which Link was not capable of reading.

He looked over at Zelda, wondering if she could tell what it said. She didn't know either.

And as for the old fortuneteller, she looked spooked as she stared at the crest. She seemed to recognize it as her eyes widened so much the engineer was afraid they might fall right out of their sockets. The old woman's hand shook slightly, making the mirror's glass rattle a little. Taking a deep breath, the Wise One calmed herself and handed back the little looking glass to Link.

"You are either fortunate...or cursed, young one," she said gravely. "That mirror is special...I suggest you hold onto it, but be wary. On this auspicious day, you never know what might happen."

"What do you mean by that, Wise One?" Zelda asked, peering into the mirror over Link's shoulder. Absently, she noted that the boy had gotten a bit taller recently as her chin could fit perfectly on it without her having to strain her neck.

"Oh, I am sure you have heard of the story of the Castle of Candles, already, have you not?" The two youths nodded. "The crest on the back of that mirror belongs to the Lord of the Castle of Candles; to the world of Dreams. The Imaginary World."

Zelda shook her head. "But...it's just a story, isn't it?" she asked. The old woman chuckled.

"Is it now?" the Wise One asked. "Well, whatever you believe, take good care of that mirror. It might bring you good fortune in ways you cannot imagine," she told the two, speaking as cryptically as possible. With that, she ushered the two children out of the tent, leaving Link and Zelda confused as to what just happened. However, they took it in stride, figuring that the old woman had finally gone off of her rocker.

And, as promised, he gave the mirror to her. It was sooner than expected, but since the item was shining as bright as the midday sun again and looking better than ever, he handed it over.

"It's not much, but I'm sorry for not paying attention before," Link said, walking hand and hand with her again through the paths of Aboda, which were filled with people from all over New Hyrule for this one event. The day was getting on and the sun had moved past its zenith, telling the boy that it was well past noon. A few more hours and evening would set on them and then night, which would be about when Link would have to take Zelda back to the castle before anyone missed her too much. "Hope you like it, hahaha."

Zelda looked at her new mirror, fingering the inscriptions on the back rather than looking at her reflection. The girl had become curious again about the story they had been told by Niko earlier that day and if, perhaps, this was one of the Lord of the Castle of Candle's own Dream Mirrors. She wondered if, just maybe, this was the mirror he had given to his beloved maiden, his Lady of Light, so that he could stay connected to her always. Despite the terrible condition Link had originally found it in, Zelda could tell a lot of heart had gone into its conception...could tell a lot of love had been put into it.

The girl smiled softly at the unexpected gift, her own heart filled with a simple warmth that only came whenever Link did an act of kindness towards her. She liked it. She liked it a lot, because it came from Link.

"Well, it may not be much," the princess began coyly, "but if it means so much to you, I'll keep it...I'm still mad though." The blonde girl was, of course, teasing her most favored engineer, but he didn't know that and she secretly enjoyed it whenever he squirmed uncomfortably in her presence. Plus, it was just fun to do it. The boy sputtered a little, a shocked look on his face and Zelda just smiled ever so innocently.

"What? Still?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. After all...not only did you not pay any attention to me when I was talking, you also left me alone, when you promised you'd stay with me all day long," she said, feigning a pout and sighing dramatically. The princess-in-disguise was really putting on a show, but her hero was none the wiser and took her rather seriously, judging from the look on his face.

"B-b-b-but...I'm sorry! I really am!"

"Ho hum. And you give me such a vain trinket like a mirror," Zelda stated, looking boredly at the hand mirror, as if the gift meant nothing to her at all. She did love it, but she was having too much fun at the poor engineer's expense. She would let him off the hook soon enough, after a bit of deviousness. The pirate outfit must be affecting her brain, or maybe Tetra's legacy hadn't peetered out completely and Zelda had inherited more than just a bit of her ancestor's legendary spunk. "Well, if you're really sorry, there's one little tiny thing you could do..."

Desperate, Link immediately agreed. "What is it?"

Zelda giggled. "I want...a kiss!"

Link was so taken aback, he nearly tripped over a loose bunny from the petting zoo, courtesy of the Rabbitland Rescue (and, through association, Link).

"What?!" the blond teen demanded, not believing the words that just came out of Zelda's mouth. The princess smiled impishly.

"Yes, is something wrong with that?" Zelda innocently inquired. For extra effect, she hid behind the mirror, only her eyes visible as she batted them at the very flustered Link.

"B-but...that...I...you..." The poor boy was flailing as he tried to come up with a good excuse not to kiss the princess, but could come up with none that didn't seriously consider using 'cooties' as a reason. What was he, _four_? And it wasn't as if friends couldn't kiss one another, right? Right? And even if he somehow managed to say 'no', Zelda would have bullied a kiss out of him anyways. Like she tended to do with everything else, after Malladus' defeat. In fact, even before they took that last final battle against the evil demon, the princess had already started bossing him around.

He was doomed, wasn't he?

"Oh, alright. Alright!" Link said. "But just one kiss, okay?"

Zelda smiled. "One is all I'll ever need. Now...close your eyes..."

The boy did as he was told and shut them, screwing them more tightly than he should have, causing the princess to giggle. He waited in anticipation for the inevitable first kiss—and it would be his first kiss from a girl _ever—_not knowing how it would change their friendship to one another after he received the princess' kiss. Would they become too awkward with one another? Or would something else blossom from this one little touch of the—

—lips to his cheek. Zelda had swooped in and planted a little peck on the cheek, giggling as Link opened his eyes wide, blushing so pink he was glowing. His gloved hand went to his cheek, rubbing the spot where his friend had kissed it. The princess looked really pleased with herself, for thoroughly worrying the boy over nothing and shocking him so bad. He really shouldn't be so gullible, but she supposed that was one of the thing she found adorable about him.

And Zelda really did and truly adore him.

_Now, if only he realizes it_, she thought with a mental sigh. _It's been a year and he still hasn't realized..._

"Thanks for the kiss," the princess said, wrapping an arm around his. She laughed as he was still in some kind of catatonic state and shook him a little to get her engineer to snap out of it. Unfortunately, Link didn't seem to be able to snap out of it, so Zelda was forced into slapping him back to his senses. It took a few hits, but the Hero of the Tracks finally came to and it was back to exploring the festival grounds once again.

-=-=-=-=-=SPIRIT TRACKS=-=-=-=-=-

The world was beautiful, as it always would be. It was a world created by the people, forged through blood, sweat and tears. Many had battled for it in the past, in order to keep the peace and still they kept a vigilant watch over the land of New Hyrule. Its stewards, the royal family of Hyrule, always did its best to rule fairly and justly and to always take up arms in times of darkness.

She had seen it happen more times than she would care to count.

She missed her vast oceans dearly, the wide expanse of water that made up the Great Sea and the little islands that dotted those oceans, her former home, before arriving in her new one in New Hyrule. She missed the clean, white sandy shorelines of her beloved village, where she once played as waves lazily crawled up towards the land, before being pulled back into the sea. The white spray of seafoam were her playmates in the summer when she had none, since there weren't many children her age to play with. They tickled her feet whenever they met at the water's end and she laughed gaily with them.

Oh, how she dearly missed her home. How she wished she could go back, but it was too late now. It was always too late.

And the story would once again repeat, because that was how things were. And she couldn't stop it. Though she could have tried, it was too late, as always.

She wanted to warn that boy, so much. She wanted him to toss away the mirror.

But it was too late. It would always be too late.

However, this time, she would sway the story's course.

It was time to end it.

"My lady,"called out a voice.

She did not look at the person who greeted her, simply choosing to look at her beloved New Hyrule through the large looking glass suspended in mid-air by sorcery. The images played with no sound, but the young woman could still see and know what was going on in her home. Her heart yearned for it, but it was simply out of reach...so as long as she was frozen in time like this, locked away in a dark place where no one could reach her...except _him_.

"My Lady of Light, the festivities are about to commence. Are you excited, my dear?"

He did not appear physically in this place where the only light was her own. But his voice was clear enough.

"Are you not happy, my lady?"

She pursed her lips. "No, I am not," she replied softly, eyes never leaving her mirror.

"Fear not, my lady...I will end this all, soon enough."

She smiled ruefully then, at those words, which sounded more hopeful than malicious. She had heard those words a dozen times before—perhaps, even hundreds of times. The Lady of Light had lost the exact count after goodness only knew how many years of this forced farce. She had never lost hope over the years, but even the most faithful would wane in conviction, if anyone had went through what she went did.

"I wonder about that," she stated wistfully, green eyes closing softly against the darkness that surrounded her. "You've said it so many times, I can scarcely believe it."

As if to answer her, her dark prison shook terribly, but she did not budge or cry out in fear. She merely stood there silently, patiently waiting through her warden's sudden tantrum. He always did this whenever she displeased him. Once the trembling stopped, she turned back to her mirror, seeing the boy and his companion, once again. The two of them were smiling warmly ateach other now, the girl's arm around one of his as she leaned in closer than any friend should. It made her heart warm to watch them and she longed to be there, too, as they were, simply enjoying the Spring Festival in her dear Aboda Village. Reaching out, she touched the boy's cheek with her fingers, feeling only the cold, unfeeling glass there.

She sighed shakily, letting her hand slid down as the glass suddenly started freezing over with ice and frost, though she ignored the icy feeling against her fingertips easily enough. The Lady of Light was given one last glance at the world beyond her prison, at the boy who had found her mirror, one last time, before the looking glass was entirely encased in ice.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to him, though her words would never reach the boy beyond her mirror.

The story was about to begin.

[END CHAPTER ONE]


End file.
